Downtown On A Rainy Night

Lately I seem to be downtown more often in the evening and it's really one of my favorite times to take pictures of the lights at night. Especially if it's just rained and there are lots of reflections on slick streets. Usually these tables outside of Starbucks are full all the time but everyone scatters when it gets wet. - Fern

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Today is a special day in Victoria as Benjamin is celebrating another pass around the sun and another year of providing excellent coverage of the daily goings on about town. Hats off sir! Much love and best wishes for many more. xoxo Fern

Victoria After Dark - City Hall

When I posted a series of night photos a few weeks ago I had intended to include a photo of Victoria's City Hall. Rainy nights however prevented me from taking the photo until a few nights ago. City Hall was built in 1890 and as well as being a locally designated heritage building, it is also a National Historic Site of Canada.

After Dark in Old Town - Lower Johnson Street

The southern side of Market square is marked by lower Johnson Street, where many of the most colorful and interesting of the old town heritage buildings can be found.

All these night shots for the last week or so were taken with an SMC Takumar 28mm lens. This is another of these old Pentax lenses I rave about from time to time, this one made in 1971. These night shots offer good examples of some of the qualities I prize in these lenses. First, they are incredibly sharp. To illustrate this I have left the larger version of today's photo at full size (7360 pixels X 4912 pixels), although I have compressed it into a smaller file so it can be uploaded and viewed without waiting for five minutes. Click the photo and then click it again to see it full size. Scroll around and look at the details - the moldings on the building and the writing on the parking meter for examples. Secondly I love the way this lens renders color. It's accurate but just a little richer and more saturated than reality. I often find myself taking phtos of stuff around the house and marveling at how it looks better through this lens than it looks through my eyes.

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For those of you who may be interested in the technical aspects, the lens is a fully manual lens - I have to choose the aperture (for these night shots I closed it down to f5.6 or f8) and then focus manually. The camera selects an appropriate shutter speed. I used a tripod for the night shots - shot them at low ISO (80-100) and long exposures. The lens was made originally for Pentax cameras. I use it by putting an adapter on my Sony A7r mirrorless camera.

After Dark in Old Town - Market Square

When Swans Hotel was built in 1913 it was as an extension of the grain business developed by the Peden Brothers and carried on in what is now Market Square. In the photo above you can see Swans Hotel on the far left. The photo is of the "front" of Market Square that faces the harbour. Market square is now home to many shops, boutiques and restaurants. The interior of the square (below) is used for many different kinds of events throughout the year though it is pretty quiet in the winter. Click HERE to visit the Market Square website.

After Dark in Old Victoria - Swans Hotel

Just around the corner from Chinatown is this landmark heritage building, Swans Hotel, at the bottom of Pandora Street. Originally erected as a feed store in 1913, it was completely re-purposed about thirty years ago by Michael Williams, the man responsible for a number of other heritage restorations in Victoria's old town. You can read more of the history of this building by clicking HERE.

After Dark - Chinatown Tea and Coffee Houses

And after a delicious meal what could be better than a cup of coffee (above) or tea (below)? Though it's only a couple of square blocks, Victoria's Chinatown is another world, one well worth exploring.

After Dark - Chinatown Shops and Restaurants

I promised last week that we'd have some more Chinatown after Dark. You can buy almost anything in Chinatown, from paper umbrellas to pomegranates. You can find stuff here that you can't find anywhere else in this city - like durian or cassava. But it's not just curiosities or curios; you can also find whatever groceries you need too. And when you're tired of shopping and are hungry there's a wide range of restaurants - some specialize in noodles, others in dim sum or won ton. It's all good.

Government Street at Night

I heard somewhere that movie directors often spray streets with water before shooting because the reflections make the scene much more interesting. Since then I've noticed a lot of gratuitous rained-on streets in films. These photos of Government Street at night seem to support this technique - that wash of color from the lights reflected in the moisture on the pavement adds a lot to these photos.

Making My Way Downtown

When you shoot off the cuff, so to speak and you get a photo that somehow captures the 'everydayness' of a moment it's simpleness is poetic. This was taken by my daughter and she's made me proud. - Fern

Carriage Ride?

Most of the tourist oriented activities have closed down for the year now but I was happy recently to see this horse and carriage still operating on the rain-washed pavement of Government Street.

A Favorite Viewpoint

Here's a look at downtown Victoria from across the Harbour on the Songhees side of the Johnston Street Bridge. I always like to stop here and admire our little city from this vantage point especially now when the blossoms are at their loveliest. - Fern

Chinatown At Night

Not just for Christmas, but all year, our little Chinatown is lit up quite nicely. - Fern